A number of respiratory problems are preceded by detectable reductions in the ability to inhale or hold one's breath. Thus, it is possible to determine from a simple breathing test whether a patient is likely to suffer from such problems in the short term. Such a simple test is described in the literature in which the patient is placed in a rest position, asked to take a deep breath and then to count continuously until he has to take a breath again. An unusually short interval between breaths is indicative of congestion of the lungs or breathing passages.
The patient is generally not in the presence of a doctor at the times the test can yield the most helpful information, and indeed, the test is most useful as part of regular and frequent monitoring.
Furthermore the results of the test taken alone may not lead directly to any given diagnosis, the doctor preferring to take the test results in combination with other patient indicators before reaching a diagnosis of any kind.
Generally, automatic decision devices exist but are not widely used in the medical field since it is difficult to determine how decisions have been made and how different factors have been taken into account if at all.
An earlier patent application of the same inventor, WO IL00/00678, filed Oct. 25, 2000 describes a system in which a plurality of tests can be administered remotely over a telemedicine system, the patient being given instructions to administer the tests and then the test results being considered together to produce recommendations. The recommendations are then given either to the patient or to the doctor or both. A rule structure is used to lead from results to recommendations in a way that allows for easy checking by the responsible doctor and which avoids masking of bad test results by other better test results. The rule structure is however inadequate for certain given situations.
In the event that the same patient is being monitored by more than one doctor for different reasons or conditions, the above device requires either that the single monitoring device monitors everything and each doctor receives all of the information, or that two separate monitoring instances are used, increasing the inconvenience to the patient.
Earlier patents relating to telemedicine include: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,907,291; 5,906,208; 5,902,234; 5,897,493; 5,895,354; 5,892,570; 5,879,292; 5,873,369; 5,868,669; 5,868,135; 5,868,134; 5,865,733; 5,855,550; 5,848,975; 5,842,977; 5,842,975; 5,840,018; 5,827,180; 5,811,681; 5,791,908; 5,791,342; 5,769,074; 5,758,652; 5,677,979; 5,619,991.